Do You Have A Dream?

On Monday, January 20th, 2014 we celebrate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He would have been 85 years old.
One of the greatest and most stirring speeches in history was Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech that he gave during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963. Over 250,000 people heard that speech live and millions more of us watching on our black and white televisions that day.

Dr. King had a dream, and he kept faithfully working for it until the end of his life in the face of beatings, imprisonment, and death threats. As a beacon of non-violent protest, he changed our world and opened the way for the Civil Rights Act in the US and more equal treatment of all people. 51 years later his dream continues to inspire even though it is not yet fully realized.

As we celebrate the birth and life of Dr. King, let’s look at our own dreams. Many of us have a dream of making a living doing work we love. We too want to change lives and make a difference.

But we keep our dream too small. Getting out of debt is not a dream, it’s a goal. An excellent goal, but it’s not going to inspire you to take the hard actions that being in business requires.

So think about the dream you have for your business. What inspires you about it? How could you make it bigger and bolder?

A real dream is probably impossible to achieve, but so worth the effort. It’s bigger than what you can accomplish on your own. It will grow and stretch and challenge you to be the biggest and best you can be. It will inspire others, and it will affect generations to come.

Your dream has to be big enough to help you take actions that are scary - making sales calls, asking people to work with you, and charging what you are worth.

So if you could reach down into your heart and soul and find your big, true dream right now, what would it be? It might frighten you and thrill you at the same time.

Let’s join with the spirit of Dr. King and dare to dream and work for our dream with all our heart, mind, and spirit. I believe he would appreciate that as a birthday gift.